with lots of tongue. The other girl palmed his cock through his jeans, and Tenny laughed into the first one’s mouth.
Reese turned away, and drained his glass, shocked at himself. The vodka burned, and tasted terrible. It sent heat spiraling through his stomach, his veins – his head.
He stood a moment, one hand braced on the edge of the bar, just breathing, feeling the warmth suffuse his limbs, and soften the sharp corners of his mind.
When he turned back, Tenny was looking at him. One of the girls had straddled his lap, and was kissing his neck, while his hand swept down low at the small of her back – shifted to her ass, and squeezed. The other girl nibbled at his ear, then tongued it, theatrical and obscene. Tenny’s mouth was hidden behind the first girl’s shoulder, but his gaze was electric; hard, and dark, and pinned on Reese.
He read it as a challenge. A defiance.
Talk to him, Carter had said.
Date, his sister had said – his sister who was seated cozily with Roman now, talking and laughing quietly, content, and taken care of. He couldn’t begin to understand what his sister wanted, what she’d achieved for herself. She loved Roman, and she said he loved her, too, and she was happy with him.
And Reese wanted to throw his empty glass down onto the floor just to watch it shatter.
But Carter had said something else: I think he’s as miserable as you.
Reese set his glass carefully on the bar, and walked toward Tenny.
It was slow progress. RJ had three women around them, all of them dancing poorly, drunkenly, in time to a too-loud song. Another girl made a grab for Reese’s sleeve, one that he shook off. He had to step around Dublin and Briscoe’s heated pool game debate. Samantha and Whitney stepped in front of him with polite excuses, headed for the bar and refills.
Then he stood in front of Tenny, and Tenny rested his head back against the couch, while the girl in his lap kept grinding against him and kissing his throat. “Problem?” he asked, all crisp and proper and disinterested.
But his eyes – oh, his eyes blazed.
Reese might have been an idiot and not understood all that he should, but he knew that now was a time to press, and not to retreat. “I want to talk to you,” he said, and his voice cracked on talk. Talking was not what filled his mind in bold, colorful imagery.
Tenny sighed, like he was bored, but his eyes flashed, and Reese saw the way his breath caught, momentarily. “Yes, yes. Ladies. What do you say we take this somewhere more private?”
The women murmured approval. The one on Tenny’s lap leaned in to nibble at his throat; she left a red smear of lipstick behind, just above the scar there, the mark left by the bullet that had nearly killed him the night Reese saved his life.
That smudge sent a wash of unproductive emotion through him, too hot and ugly to name. Emboldened him, so his voice came out harsh and grating when he said, “No.”
His tone startled the women. Both of them turned to look at him.
“I want to talk to you. Tell them to stay here.”
One of the women murmured something – Reese wasn’t sure which one; his gaze was pinned on Tenny.
Tenny, whose self-satisfied, lion-at-leisure expression froze, and then melted, leaving him flat and expressionless. Operative mode, cold and efficient. “This is a party,” he said, like Reese was stupid.
Reese matched him, stare for stare, mask for mask – though he could feel the anger lifting off himself like vapor, and knew it must be visible to Tenny. “I don’t care. I want to talk to you.”
It was the third time he’d said it, and Tenny finally reacted. He gathered himself to stand, and the woman with the red lipstick slid off his lap and back to the couch. “Excuse me, ladies,” he said with a big, put-upon sigh. “I have to go and deal with this little problem.”
The words didn’t sting as they’d no doubt been intended. Reese was too furious to be hurt by slights. Every second Tenny delayed – straightening his cut, swiping a hand back through his perfectly slicked hair – wound his anger another notch tighter. His jaw and throat felt tense; he wanted to bare his teeth.
Instead, he stepped back, and gestured, and Tenny set off in front of him, rolling his eyes dramatically.
He led the way down the